


(Dream)

by starticker



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, First Kiss, M/M, Season 2 Interlude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 08:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10805745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starticker/pseuds/starticker
Summary: The night before the paladins are meant to face Zarkon, Shiro has a dream.





	(Dream)

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [Sheith Flower Exchange](https://twitter.com/sheithbouquet) for [@QueTostada](https://twitter.com/quetostada)! The flower they chose was milkvetch (your presence softens my pains), and here it is; I hope you enjoy!

Everything was wrong from the start, and Shiro knew that even if he couldn't seem to stop it. From the instant they arrived at Zarkon's castle they were outnumbered, much more than they'd ever been, and in a flash of light the lions were down. The Galra ships swarmed them while they sat helpless, chasing and tumbling them across the open space like they were nothing but playthings. In the distance, Shiro could barely make out the remains of the Castle, and in a blink its insides and passengers were lost to the void of space. No matter how many times he tried to contact them, he couldn't reach anyone—not Allura or Coran, not Keith, not the others, and the Black Lion wouldn't respond under his touch. It was like the first time they had faced Zarkon all over again, and his lion was cold, unfeeling, alien…and it didn't want him.

Then Shiro was in space, spat out like he was nothing but a kernel that had been stuck between the Black Lion's teeth. Somehow his armor was gone too, but although space was freezing him to his bones and there was no air around him, he didn't die. Instead, he drifted, watching the lions move further and further away while he reached out for them helplessly. He was alone and couldn't breathe, and he watched the colors disappear, losing sight of first the Black Lion, and then the others one after another. The Red Lion was last, the only one that seemed able to resist the pull of Zarkon's castle, and Shiro whimpered, reaching, reaching. If he could save just one—

A loud sound filled his head, and Shiro woke as if he was stumbling out of a fog. He wasn't sure where he was at first, but he was lying on his side, curled and tense as if huddling to keep himself warm in space. It took him a moment to realize how silly that was and recognize his surroundings as his room in the Castle, but it didn't erase his unease. That hadn't felt like a nightmare. If anything, it had felt realer than anything he felt now.

The sound that must have woke him came again, coming from everywhere and nowhere, and Shiro sat up stiffly. He barely dared to breath in case it covered the sound, and a second later he heard it again: the quietest of knocks at his door, nothing more than a soft tap of knuckles against metal, but so much louder to his distressed mind.

Shiro rolled to his feet and called out for lights while he took quick steps towards the door. He wasn't surprised to open it and see Keith mid-turn, about to walk back down the dimly lit hallway.

"This is a long way to walk just to check that I'm sleeping," Shiro said, trying not to sound too relieved to see him. With his soft-looking pajamas and ridiculous bedhead, Keith looked about as far from a disastrous battle as someone could get, but the images still lingered behind Shiro's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Shiro," Keith said. He looked guilty to be there, but beyond that, his back was tense and his hands were clenched. Shiro couldn't tell if it was from anger or nerves. "It's nothing. It can wait."

"You're already here," Shiro pointed out. Shiro doubted Keith would get any more sleep if he left now, on edge as he was, and Shiro didn't think he'd fare any better. "And I wasn't really sleeping anyway. Come in."

As guilty as Keith might've felt about disturbing Shiro's rest, he didn't hesitate to accept the invite. He stepped inside on soft, bare feet, and Shiro focused on that rather than the brief, warm press of Keith's body against his as he brushed by him or the sheen of sweat on Keith's pale skin. Had Keith run here to check on him? Had he been that worried?

The door closed, and Shiro turned, only to have Keith's arms wrap awkwardly around him in a hug he wasn't expecting.

"Sorry," Keith said. When Shiro lifted his arms to return the embrace, his grip resettled into something more natural, but still with an edge of desperation that Shiro didn't understand. "I don't know what I was thinking. Space is getting to me, maybe."

"Bad dreams?" Shiro guessed, and he felt the brush of Keith's hair against his cheek as he nodded.

"Yeah. Being here helps." Keith took a deep breath. "Being around _you_ helps. It always does." He shifted, pressing impossibly closer. They'd never been this close before, with nothing between them but thin pajamas. "Sometimes I think there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Shiro's heart gave an embarrassing lurch at that, even if he understood perfectly that Keith didn't mean it the way it sounded. He was just tired; they both were.

"I know exactly what you mean," Shiro said, and he let himself keep hugging Keith for a few seconds more. When he pulled back, it was with visible reluctance on both sides, and Shiro gave up. Even if it hurt later, he wouldn't be able to let Keith go tonight. "We'll be useless tomorrow if we don't get to sleep." He picked up the blankets he'd kicked off earlier and handed one to Keith. "Here, you can stay with me. That way, if there are any more bad dreams…well, we'll both be here."

"Thanks Shiro," Keith said quietly, and when Shiro slid into the bed, Keith followed. It was a tight fit; the beds were barely big enough to fit one of them and they had to share his one pillow, but Shiro didn't mind. Even though the suggestion had been made mostly for Keith's benefit, Shiro admitted that it was nice to be close like this, their knees knocking together companionably until they managed to sort it out. They might wake up with a crick in their necks or with their bodies sprawled in odd positions, but neither of them would fall out of the bed.

It seemed like a perfect solution, right up until Shiro turned to ask Keith a question and realized how close his face was.

"—yours about?"

"Huh?" Shiro asked, having missed the question in his distraction. His confusion was rewarded with one of Keith's small, rare smiles, and that only made the situation worse.

"Your bad dream. What happened?"

Shiro winced.

"I don't think we should talk about it. Bad for…morale." 

Keith rolled his eyes, and as close as they were, Shiro could clearly see the faintest hint of red in the whites. It was a reminder; Keith probably needed to talk about his, if he was going to get any sleep at all.

"You disappeared in mine. Disintegrated." Keith sighed heavily, and Shiro felt the burst of minty air against his cheek. "It was back when we were getting the Red Lion. I left you and Pidge while I went to go get it, and when I came back, you were…disappearing."

Keith shuddered, clearly disturbed, and Shiro used a hand on his blanket-covered hip to pull him just a bit closer. They were almost embracing again, but this time, it was in the warm cocoon of Shiro's bed; he wasn't sure if that was an improvement or not.

"From a Galra weapon, or from something like a wormhole?" Shiro asked, more to distract Keith with theories than anything, and he wasn't surprised when he received a huff.

"Is that important?"

"Sure it is. People don't just disappear, Keith." Shiro realized what he said a second later and winced. He hurriedly corrected himself. "Or at least I don't plan to."

 _Nobody planned to_ , Keith didn't say. Keith didn't say anything at all for long moments, in fact, and Shiro nearly jumped out of his skin when Keith's hand moved and came to rest tentatively against his chest. For someone as strong as Keith ( _the strongest person Shiro had ever met_ ), his hand was almost delicate in comparison, and warm. As warm as his hidden heart.

"Well. You're here now."

Keith smiled up at him again, looking at him with trust and fondness from inches away. 

It was the closest to peace that Shiro had known since coming to space, and it was without thought that he leaned forward. He wasn't sure what he'd meant to do, but with Keith's face so close, erasing those last inches was instinctual. He tilted his head enough to press a soft, dry kiss to Keith's lips, barely even a kiss at all.

When he pulled back, Keith's eyes were wide with shock, and what had seemed like a small risk a moment ago grew exponentially in Shiro's mind.

"Sorry," he said, regret twisting his insides. "I know you don't—"

Keith surged forward, his own kiss catching Shiro mid-word with bruising force. It matched the way Keith's hands suddenly dug into his shoulders to hold him close, and Shiro closed his eyes to savor it. It might've just been Keith reaching desperately for a connection, any connection, but it was more than that to Shiro.

The kiss ended quickly, like Shiro had expected, but where he'd also expected regret, he got instead another kiss, this one ghosting over his cheek and the pink scar across his nose. The third kiss landed on his forehead, the fourth on hairline, the fifth on his ear. When the sixth kiss finally landed once more on his lips, it was much gentler than he'd expected, almost…almost like love.

When Keith pulled back, it was with a sigh, the air hot against Shiro's mouth. He didn't go far, curling up as much as he could against Shiro's chest. Keith felt right in his arms, but also like an unbelievable dream.

Shiro could've still been dreaming; he chose to believe he wasn't.

"Six kisses," Keith said. "One for every year I've wanted to do that." He breathed, deeply enough that Shiro felt his chest expand. "We can have more later." His arms tightened around Shiro. "Just don't go anywhere. Don't disappear."

There was only one thing Shiro could say to that as he held him back, his eyes slowly drifting closed as Keith's breath evened out in sleep.

"Don't worry. I won't."

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me at [my tumblr](http://starticker.tumblr.com/) if you want. All Voltron all the time, which is just the way it should be. ;)


End file.
